AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT

picture this:
in the center of it all is a big red house
in front of the house a man holds his wife
they smile
the woman is pregnant and happy
she looks very coy
he looks very proud to hold her
they look fairly well off
somewhere off in the background
there is a spotted dog running around
searching for something
there is a white fence around the house
the sky is blue, of course
really blue
there’s some horses
very handsome horses
the grass is green and flourishing
off in the distance are hills
great hills
they go on forever
there’s desert dust at their feet
there’s a red convertible in the driveway
there’s a beat up old truck on the road
there’s something in the window
a glimmer of a light
maybe a christmas tree
maybe something secret
the clouds in the sky were made by god
a very specific god
who shines down upon this family
a very specific type of sunshine
there’s a chimney on the roof
with smoke rising up out of it
it’s all just as you’d imagine

you can see the brushstrokes
and the dust its collected
over the years